The NBA offseason is always a great opportunity to display your ambitions for the upcoming season and announce to the world what is about to happen… or not. Victor Oladipo recently lent himself to this little game at the microphone of Vince Carter, and we can say that he is not shy about the campaign to come.
Only 60 games played in the last three seasons, operations that are linked to try to repair the sores, two moves, and a statistical production necessarily in free fall. This is what Victor Oladipo has been through since his terrible quadriceps tendon injury in his right knee in January 2019, when he was still playing at All-Star level for the Pacers. Today in Miami after also stopping in Houston during the 2020-21 season, Vic still hopes to rise from his ashes to prove that he is still one hell of a basketball player, and that he simply should not bury him too soon.
« That I’m one of the best players in the world. Period. I think that my injury has kind of built a misconception of who I am as a player. »@VicOladipo on proving to others and himself during his offseason workouts
(via @TheVCShow, @OmahaProd)pic.twitter.com/cjC4RaNedf
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) August 12, 2022
In an interview with Vince Carter, Oladipo shows once again that he is not the type to doubt himself with a big statement in the purest style of the good man. Excerpts, via ClutchPoints.
“I want to prove that I am one of the best players in the world, period. I think that with my injury, a false idea has been built about what type of player I am. There are a lot of athletes who come back stronger after injury, so why not me? Why couldn’t I have an even better career than before my injury? There is no reason. I really think I can do it. I am able to achieve great things even now. It’s never too late. »
Great things, Victor Oladipo has achieved in the jersey of the Pacers a few years ago, and we have been able to have some flashes of this guy since his arrival in Miami, despite the ups and downs that have logically accompanied his return on the parquet floors. We think of the last Playoffs where he made a few games his contribution on both sides of the field (off the bench) in the big course of the Heat (defeat in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals). But can these flashes become more numerous? Can he find some consistency in his performance? To hope to get closer to the level he was at before his injury problems, the answer to these two questions must unquestionably be “yes”.
That Victor Oladipo spin move package bouta go crazy pic.twitter.com/Cc4vuGKjRI
— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) August 4, 2022
The good news today is that Victor Oladipo can prepare perfectly for the next campaign thanks to a real offseason to work on his game and his physique. Enough to build a good foundation for his “Revenge Tour”, he who obviously wants to close a few mouths. And at exactly 30, he is also in a contractual situation which has something to motivate him. The former All-Star is indeed on a two-year, $18 million contract at the Heat, with a player option on the second. The deal isn’t gross per se given his injury history, but it’s now or never for him to show the entire NBA that he deserves more than an annual salary of nine million. And that goes through both great individual performances but also a real contribution to Miami’s success next year.
What face will Victor Oladipo show in the 2022-23 season? Without imagining him becoming an All-Star caliber player again, can he really establish himself as a member who counts in one of the biggest teams in the Eastern Conference? These are the kinds of questions we can ask ourselves today about it. It is up to him to match words with deeds next October.
Source texte : The VC Show (via ClutchPoints)
